Nothing on TV
by Sylvia1
Summary: A quiet moment at home is interrupted by an unexpected visitor. Characters: Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just like to write about 'em.

Title: Nothing on TV

The room was dark save for the light shining in from the bathroom, and the flickering faces on the muted television. The two figures were dancing closely, slowly side to side, more of a comforting sway than a rigorous dance. Harvey had his arms slung around her hips, his hands clutching the small of her back. Rachel's head was against his chest, her breaths slow against his bare chest. She almost looked as if she were dancing in her sleep, save for the smile that played on her lips.

Drifting over from the corner, the warm beats from one of Jennifer Hudson's songs weaved their way in and out of their dance. The walls of their place were still blank, seeing as how they'd only moved in together a couple of weeks ago. Of course they'd been too busy to unpack, so Harvey had stacked the boxes in one of their linen closets. The end result was a very clean, bare apartment.

Harvey didn't really want to break this silence, this tiny little moment of peace they'd carved out of their hectic lives. It was so rare that he hated to be the one to end it. But he'd been trying to figure out how to ask her for a week now, and he never neglected his intuition. He took a slow breath, his eyes focused at some unseen point on the bare white wall.

"Rachel?"

"Mmm?"

Was she asleep? He hoped to God that she wasn't, it would make this all the more awkward. He paused a moment to verify with himself that he could do this. "Can I ask you a question?"

She sighed deeply, "You know what my answer is, Harvey." Her smile broadened, and her eyes cracked open mischievously. Dammit, he hated the way she knew him so well. He could bluff a convict into telling his secrets, get mob bosses to give up their guns, and even talk nut jobs out of shooting civilians. But negotiating Rachel was a completely different field.

"Well you can't blame me for asking can you?" He squeezed her tight, trying to ignore the disappointment.

"Well, no, I guess not. But honestly Harvey, I'm not going to change my mind so quickly." She grinned up at him, her eyes flashing in the television light.

Harvey chuckled, "You might! You're pretty fickle you know. I mean, just look at how you flirt with Bruce…"

"Hey!" She smacked him on the ass. "I can't believe you bring up Bruce of all people…" Rachel went to sit down on the bed, drinking from a nearby bottle of water. Her big white T-shirt was way too big for her, even too big for Harvey actually. It came down to her knees, making the words "I Believe…" look more like a signpost.

Harvey laughed. "Well he does have his eyes on you, and don't think I don't see it." He nodded at her knowingly as if he's just made some pivotal conclusion in court.

Rachel rolled her eyes and strolled into the bathroom. "Yea, yea. Well it's not my fault you don't have any crazy admirers like I do."

"Yes it is – you scare them all away!" Harvey smiled at her laughter. He started flipping through the channels looking for something on TV that didn't have his or the Joker's face on it. Summer Gleason was doing a special on the city's lack of organization, CNN had a piece on today's psychotic murderers, and even the BBC was taking interviews with survivors of the fear outbreak from last year. Sometimes Harvey found it daunting being in his shoes.

Rachel started humming to herself as she combed her hair. Harvey sighed, giving up on TV and leaning back to prop himself up on his elbows, when something caught his eye. It was faint, but Harvey knew to trust his instincts in this city. The flutter of a cape right on their balcony, he was sure of it. He got to his feet quickly, steeling himself in case he needed to fight. To his surprise, the door outside was unlocked. He felt his heart lurch slightly as he went out onto the balcony looking side to side, and then above him. Rachel always told him they needed a gun in this house, and now he was starting to think she was right.

Across the street, two buildings down, Harvey caught sight of him. His pointed ears were momentarily silhouetted against a neon billboard. Then a second later he was gone, leaving no trace that he'd ever been here. Harvey was dumbfounded. Why the hell was he here? What did he want? Harvey must have looked just as incredulous as he felt, because he jumped when Rachel touched his arm.

"Harvey! What happened?"

"I thought I saw…" Harvey paused in mid-sentence, staring at the long umbrella Rachel was holding in her hands. "What is that for?"

Rachel ignored him, leaning over the railing and looking up along the side of the building searching for any sign of the intruder. "Which way did he go?"

"Rachel," Harvey sighed, wondering how his feisty girlfriend could have ever been attacked by Professor Crane last year. As resourceful as she was, he always imagined her finding a crowbar to beat him with in the bowels of Arkham Asylum.

Somehow he wrestled the umbrella away from her without getting too severely smacked with it, though removing the weapon certainly didn't keep her from being furious. "You know you're probably the only guy in the world that thinks that a woman shouldn't keep a weapon!"

"That's not it at all," Harvey put the umbrella back against the wall. "I just know you'd likely knock out one of Bat's eyes and suddenly we have complete chaos in the streets."

Rachel leaned up suddenly from leaning over the balcony, "What was that?"

"Well I mean you were wielding it like a baseball bat or something…"

"No, I mean who did you say was here?" Rachel walked up closer, her eyes stern.

"What, Bats? Oh that's just the nickname Jim and I came up with…"

"You mean to tell me Batman was here? _On our balcony?_" her voice had raised quite quickly, and Harvey could see her face getting red with anger.

"Well yes, I think so, I mean I didn't see much of him…"

Rachel suddenly seemed very upset, and for the life of him Harvey couldn't figure out why. She slowly went back inside, sat down on the edge of the bed, and folded in her arms. Harvey followed her cautiously, locking the door behind him and smiling as he turned to her again. "I don't think it's that bad, Rachel. I mean, I'm sure Bats has seen plenty of partially clothed women before."

She turned to glare at him so quickly, her mouth agape in amazement. "Damn it, Harvey!" The tears were trickling down her face and she rushed into the bathroom, this time slamming the door behind her.

Harvey sighed and laid back down on the bed, resigning himself to flipping through channels again. One minute he was proposing marriage, and the next she was slamming doors on him. More and more his life seemed like one big random mess, and he was running out of ideas on how to sort it out. He came across one station that was playing footage of that Joker character smiling casually into the security cameras. It must be nice to be so carefree, he thought.


End file.
